In 2025, fire departments serving Wilton responded to 61 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
223 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $283K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 72 | — | |
| 2022 | 44 | -38.9% | |
| 2023* | 22 | — | |
| 2024* | 24 | — | |
| 2025 | 61 | — |
* Well below Wilton's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 13 building fires Wilton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 28.0% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Wilton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wilton departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wilton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 804 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 64 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 57 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 43 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 13.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 32 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 32 | 37.6 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Wilton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wilton.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.